Tenants in common, sale of part or splitting property?

Rupert_Bear_2

I own an piece of land as equal tenant in common with a distant relative. My relative decided she wanted to sell her half. I offered to buy my relative out, but queer old thing that she is, she has now decided that she would prefer to sell to a third party (the man who owns the land next door!). I do not wish to be joint tenant with a complete stranger - not least I worry that he might decide to spend money on maintenance and send me half the bill!

Her solicitor says that if I don't agree she will appoint a trustee to act on my behalf. I have said I would prefer to split the land into two equal and separate holdings. Unlike a house or a flat, this is entirely feasible and I can't see why it should not be possible, but they are refusing with no reason given and now intend to go ahead regardless and there seems to be nothing I can do about it

How can they appoint a "trustee" to act on my behalf against my express wish?

Should I be worried about possible disputes with an unknown tenant in common?

All advice and experience gratefully received.

Thanks!

James

McKneff

I wouldn't think they can appoint anyone to deal with any business of yours without your express consent.

Most solicitors will give a half hour free consultation these days, if you don't get any answers on here.

Good luck but I wouldn't worry about it.

cte1111

Would the neighbour be interested in buying your half too? Sounds like an easy get out if possible.

witchy1066

how old are you ?

have you had or got any mental health issues ?

I ask because in some cases if the joint owner is say under 25 or is not able to make a decision for oneself for what ever reason then it is quite common to appoint a trustee on their behalf ,but the trustee would hopefully be working with you not against you

Strapped

How old is the distant relative? Has the man next door put pressure on her at all? Or is he just offering waaaaay more £££s?

witchy1066

I think the main issue for the OP is why the relative and her solicitor is wanting to get a trustee to look after his affairs,

once that has been made clear ,then he can start to question why he can not buy the relative out (providing he has the funds)

xylophone

Is the land in England or Wales?

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/cgmanual/cg70504.htm



"Since the enactment of the Law of Property Act 1925, the legal title to land in England and Wales cannot be held under a tenancy in common. Instead it must be held on a `trust for sale'. "

OP should see a solicitor?

witchy1066

good point , I was more thinking it might be in N Ireland
and yes OP you must seek legal advice

Richard_Webster

If it is England/Wales then she would have to apply to the court if your refuse to sign to sell, so you are in a fairly strong position.

She would have to persuade the court that the purpose behind the trust was such that it was right and appropriate for a sale to take place.

You are a trustee with the other person - they cannot randomly appoint someone else unless the terms of the rust specifically allow it and it is very doubtful in most cases that there would be any such specific terms.

Buyer' solicitor would want to know why you were being displaced as a trustee so they would be unlikely to accept such a deed as valid - the grounds for displacing you being that you didn't agree with the other person(!!!???).

There might be more to it if there are some circumstances that you are not telling us about.

Rupert_Bear_2

Thank you all for your very quick responses! I should have given more detail in the original post, but didn't want to put you off with a long and winding tale! To answer some of your questions:

Both me and my cousin are sane and able to look after our own affairs.

This is in England.

My cousin wants to sell her share in the land to the neighbour because he is also buying some other property from her that she owns outright. The shared land in which I have an interest separates her property from the neighbour's - hence her motivation in selling to the neighbour, not to me.

I do have the funds to buy my cousin out, and could certainly match the other offer. I can see that it would be unfair to insist on her selling to me when she has an interest to sell to someone else, but what is unfair about splitting the land?

The suggestion that a trustee would be appointed to act on my behalf was first mooted (threatened?) when they had no response from me because I was away on holiday. Three letters came in quick succession, the last saying that if I did not respond they would appoint a trustee to act on my behalf. Then I did respond, reminding the solicitor that I had offered to buy my cousin out and also reminding her that I had suggested splitting the land into two separate holdings. She has since responded to say her client was not interested in splitting the land and repeating the threat to appoint a trustee to act on my behalf, even though she now has it in writing that I do not want to become tenant in common with complete stranger.

I hope this fills in the gaps in your understanding of my position. I think the conclusion is it is time to speak to the lawyer!

zzzLazyDaisy

The other joint tenant will have to obtain an order of the court dispensing with the need for your signature on the sale of the land. In the circumstances that you describe I am 99% certain that no court would grant such an order. So unless there are further complications that we don't know about, you cannot be forced to sell your land to the neighbour.

If you have not already done so, I would write to the solicitor a letter headed

'without prejudice save as to the issue of costs'

And make a clear offer to buy her share of the land from her, with the price you are willing to pay, and tell them that should this matter proceed to court, you will produce the letter to the court on the issue of costs.

It might just make them stop and think.

But really you need to seek your own independent legal advice.